Barbie Doll - 4ps

Variety

Variety is the spice of the Barbie Doll Marketing Success. First introduced to the US market in 1959, Barbie has grown into a global cultural phenomena. From just one female doll, the Barbie family has grown and includes over 38 friends and relatives.

There are now dolls that represent multiple ethnicities, males, different age groups, different abilities, different lifestyles, etc. All totaled, there are now over one hundred and fifty different dolls under the Barbie brand.

Quality

Quality has been the watchword of Barbie. Mattel has consistently researched on quality materials to ensure that the doll remains firm in the marketplace.

Today’s Barbie are more lifelike using materials technology. A few years ago, when Mattel designers decided to give Barbie a flexible waist that would allow the doll to move back and forth and side to side

For this, Barbie’s stomach needed to be made out of a material that was soft, flexible, and felt like a human body. It needed to fold and change when Barbie moved, to mimic human skin.

Mattel finally decided on a very soft elastomer that was not harmful to children. Thus Mattel has placed accent on quality at every step of the Barbie revolution.

Design

Different versions of the doll have been introduced to reflect the world’s diverse population. For example, Mattel has produced African-American Barbie dolls since 1968, the time of the civil rights movement, and has introduced Hispanic and Asian dolls as well.

Themed dolls were introduced that changed with the times -- from stewardess, fashion model, nurse, and astronaut.

When Hilary Clinton was elected to the U.S. Senate, Mattel came out with Senator Barbie.

Features

Since the past 5 years, Mattel has organized its ever limitless variety into 4 different Features Slots called Tiers.

The first tier is pink--Barbie doll's signature color - and then the additional tiers add other colors representing even higher standards like silver, gold, and platinum.

The Pink Tier will include fun, keepsake dolls such as the Dolls of the World - The Princess Collection and the "I Love Lucy" celebrity dolls. The Pink Label dolls are not limited in production numbers.

The Silver Label tier includes the Birthday Wishesв„ў dolls. Each doll is limited to no more than 50,000 pieces.

Next, there is the more exclusive Gold Tier. Each doll in the Gold Label tier is limited to no more than 25,000 pieces created worldwide. Gold Label dolls include such popular collector series as the Barbie Fashion Model Collection Model of the Moment.

The last tier is the very limited Platinum Label. These dolls are produced in editions of less than 1,000 worldwide, and the tier includes premium one-of-a-kind dolls available at select events.

Brand Name

With a huge success with the Barbie doll, Mattel has been able to successfully branch out and sell all sorts of Barbie-related products. Basically, anything with a picture of a Barbie on it, anything that can be used to enhance a Barbie (such as new clothes), or anything that can be used to transport a Barbie (such as a Barbie Corvette or a Barbie airplane) is popular among young girls.

Barbie games, including puzzles, board games, and computer games have been items that parents have been buying for their children for years. Girls love to play Barbie games because they are fun, creative, and of course - involve Barbie in some way, shape or form.

Packaging

In keeping with the different varieties based on the Tier system, Mattel has also created an exclusive set of packaging for each of these tiers.

Pink Label dolls come packaged in a box with a clear acetate front trimmed in pink, which makes a nice display for NRFB (never removed from box) dolls.

Silver